Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset

Thomas Grey
Arms of Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, KG
Born	1455 Groby Old Hall, Groby, Leicestershire
Died	20 September 1501 (aged 46) London
Title	1st Marquess of Dorset 1st Earl of Huntingdon 7th Baron Ferrers of Groby
Spouse(s)	Lady Anne Holland Cecily Bonville, 7th Baroness Harington
Children	Lord Edward Grey Anthony Grey Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset Sir Richard Grey Sir John Grey Leonard Grey, 1st Viscount Grane George Grey Cecily Grey Bridget Grey Dorothy Grey Elizabeth Grey, Countess of Kildare Margaret Grey Eleanor Grey Mary Grey
Parent(s)	Sir John Grey of Groby Elizabeth Woodville

Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, 1st Earl of Huntingdon and 7th Baron Ferrers of Groby KG (1455 – 20 September 1501), was an English nobleman, courtier and the eldest son of Elizabeth Woodville and her first husband Sir John Grey of Groby. Her second marriage to King Edward IV made her queen consort of England, thus elevating Grey's status at court and in the realm as the stepson of the King. Through his mother's assiduous endeavours, he made two materially advantageous marriages to wealthy heiresses - his first wife being Anne Holland (daughter of the King's sister, Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter), and his second wife, Cecily Bonville, 7th Baroness Harington. By the latter he had 14 children.

Thomas Grey was born in 1455 close to Westminster on the north bank of the Thames. He was the elder son of Sir John Grey and his wife Elizabeth Woodville, who later became queen consort to Edward IV of England. His younger full brother, Sir Richard Grey (1457-1483), was arrested by Richard, Duke of Gloucester on 30 April 1483, after being accused of plotting to take the throne. Gloucester's forces later executed Richard Grey at Pontefract Castle. The Grey brothers had ten half-siblings by their mother's marriage to Edward IV.

His mother endeavoured to improve his estates by the conventional methods of their class and time, through his marriages and purchase of wardships.

On the death of his stepfather, Edward IV, and his 12-year-old half-brother, Edward V's, accession to the throne on 9 April 1483, Grey proved unable to maintain his family's position. It was not possible to arrange a Woodville regency. Internal fighting, particularly the long-established battle for ascendancy in Leicestershire between the Grey and Hastings families, now on the national stage, allowed Gloucester to seize power and usurp the throne. On 25 June 1483, an assembly of Parliament declared Richard III to be the legitimate king, and Thomas's uncle and brother, Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers and Richard Grey respectively, were executed. Later in the summer, learning of the apparent murder of both his young half-brothers, Grey joined the Duke of Buckingham's rebellion against Richard III. When the rebellion failed he fled to Brittany to join Henry Tudor, the future Henry VII, who pledged to marry Grey's half-sister Elizabeth of York and heal the Yorkist/Lancastrian division.